Herb Brooks will forever be an American sports icon. Head coach of the U.S. Mens Hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid the Minnesotan led a group of amateur and collegiate players to the legendary Miracle on Ice victory over the heavily favored Soviet Union in the Olympic Semifinals on February 22 1980. The U.S.S.R. had won gold in five of the six previous Olympics and were all but assured to take home another on American soil in the midst of an escalating Cold War crisis. But an inexperienced and supposedly overmatched U.S. team played the game of their lives coming away with a stunning 4-3 victory to the tunes of Al Michaels famous callDo you believe in miracles? Yes!radiating the air waves. Two days later Team USA went on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland 4-2. Meanwhile the Soviets had to settle for the bronze in what was the nations most humiliating Olympic experience. In 1999 Sports Illustrated named the "Miracle on Ice" the Top Sports Moment of the 20th Century. As part of its 100th anniversary celebration in 2008 the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) chose the "Miracle on Ice" as the century's No. 1 international ice hockey story. Several books have been written and movies made about this fairytale story.

This important lot features Herb Brooks red white and blue Team USA warm-up velour jacket the very one he wore during the team's miraculous 1980 gold medal run including the gold-medal ceremony! It can be matched to several photos of the Hockey Hall of Famer during the tournament. Exhibiting moderate wear throughout the zipper-down warm-up jacket exhibits no major flaws. An embroidered USA 1980 Olympic Team patch is positioned on the left chest while U S A in white lettering christens the back. A Levi Strauss & Company manufacturers tag is on the inside rear collar accompanied by a white washing instructions strip tag reading L/R. A second LEVIS tag is sewn on to the front right chest just above another tag reading ICE HOCKEY. This jacket was featured in HAs Herb Brooks Collection in February 2015 and sold for $23900low for a piece of such historical significance.

A hard-nosed coach who believed endurance would be the ticket to the Americans success Brooks understood the value of great conditioning and pushed his players to their physical and mental limits. A standout player himself at the University of Minnesota Brooks played on two U.S. Mens Olympic teams (1964 and 68) before becoming a coach most notably for his Alma-mater. He led the Golden Gophers to three NCAA championship titles in 1974 1976 and 1979. It was the upset win over the Soviets in 1980 that made Herb Brooks a household name. On the afternoon of August 11 200323 years after his greatest momentBrooks was killed in an auto accident in Lake Forest Minnesota. At the time of his death Brooks was serving as the Pittsburgh Penguins' Director of Player Personnel. Brooks was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 the International Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Hockey Hall of Fame (posthumously) in 2006.

Includes Letter of Provenance from Herb's widow Patti Brooks. Originated from the Herb Brooks Estate Collection.